A High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, Tuesday dismissed an application by the former general manager of Kwara State Television Authority, Abdulfatah Adewale Adebowale, asking the court to compel the Ilorin Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to produce the report of the sale of Kwara State Government properties from 1999 till date
The Ilorin Zonal office of the anti-graft agency had on November 6, 2019, arraigned Adebowale before Justice Sikiru Oyinloye’s court on a six-count charge bordering on land fraud and obtaining by false pretence.
Count three of the charge sheet read, ” That you, Abdulfatah Adewale Adebowale, being a public officer, as the general manager of Kwara state television authority, sometime between May and June 2015 in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of the high court of Kwara state, used your office to confer corrupt advantage upon yourself, when you received a cash deposit of N2,350,000 through your Stanbic IBTC Bank account number 0007306612 from Sulyman Abdulkareem being proceeds from the sale of land allocated to staff of the Kwara State Television Authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the corrupt practices and other related offences Act 2000.”
Adebowale in his application, had approached the Judge to order the EFCC to produce the report on the sale of Kwara state government properties from 1999 to date.
In his ruling, Justice Oyinloye said, “I sympathize with the applicant but the law is not about sympathy,in the final analysis of this application, this honourable court holds the view that the application lacks merit and accordingly dismissed.”
“The need for the applicant to prove to this honourable court the report about the sale of Kwara state government properties from 1999 to date was in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is very high, the appropriate authority to apply to for this document is the Kwara state government who set up the panel to investigate the sale of Kwara state government properties.
“What the applicant asked for is forbidden, it is in serious violation with the provisions of the evidence acts, the prosecution has demonstrated that all the needed documents, in this case, have been attached to the charge, this position has not been challenged or controverted by the applicant,” the trial judge stated.
Justice Oyinloye, therefore, dismissed the application and fixed March 4, 2020, for continuation of trial.
